‘I’m flying, not falling’: Sensory Sleep Events Following a Fall from Height

Hypnagogic and hypnopompic (H&H) events are sleep phenomena which occur at the borders of consciousness between falling asleep and beginning to wake. There is limited qualitative exploration of the nature of these experiences, and no studies have yet been conducted specifically with accident survivors who go on to experience H&H events. The current paper uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to examine the unusual sleep events and sensory dreams experienced by a female survivor of a fall from height, alongside reflections on the H&H experiences of the author, who survived a similar fall. Unusual sleep events were found to be part of the process of sense-making when recovering from a traumatic accident. The experience of dwelling in liminal states – both physically and mentally – at different points in the recovery journey, and the differences in physicality between dream and waking states following serious injury are also discussed.